Photo Story: The Barter Boat, a contemporary interactive art installment at this year’s True/False Fest
March 3, 2024
By Lily Kleinhenz
The Barter Boat connects strangers through their personal belongings and the act of bartering
Vintage polaroids, nesting dolls and a lucky quarter are all objects the Barter Boat has haggled for. As a contemporary interactive art installation, the Barter Boat travels from city to city across America collecting objects and trinkets from people off the streets. Then, in return, the Barter Boat makes them into art pieces to trade out in the next city.
Two people stand outside the Barter Boat on Friday, March 1, 2024 in Columbia, Mo. The Barter Boat allows people to trade their personal objects in return for a piece of art made from other strangers’ personal objects. “We are emphasizing that things have value based on your relationship to them versus monetary value,” co-founder Desireé Moore said.
The Barter Boat displays the items ready to be traded for on a pegboard behind the booth. Objects range from ephemera, floss and postcards to plastic baby doll legs. “It isn’t just about the things, we aren’t collectors,” co-founder Anna Elliott said. “It’s more about the emotional quality that people have when they trade stuff with us … that is a special, short moment of intense connection that we feel really lucky we get to ping off of.”
Mini art collages made out of objects received by the Barter Boat are displayed. These collages can be based on its physical color, type of object or the stories behind each item. Co-founder Anna Elliott said that bartering items is deeper than just the physical act of it. “[It’s] the understanding that you and this invisible person have an interest and delight in exchanging things,” Elliott said. “In America, we talk a lot about junk and about how Americans fill up our houses with trash. I think that is true, but I think the Barter Boat is also a fun opportunity that people can have to think about their relationship with their stuff.”
Desireé Moore barters with Brooke Collier for a compact mirror that Collier’s aunt had put in her Christmas stocking over five years ago. “I had a little collapsible mirror that I carry around all the time but I have a duplicate in my pocket book,” Collier said. “So I thought it was the perfect chance to get rid of it.” In return, Collier received a zine, a paper clip and some ribbon.
Desireé Moore plugs in the cord for the light bulbs on the Barter Boat. The architecture of the boat was influenced by a carnival booth design. “It can be challenging for a passerby to initiate conversation because people don’t like to be sold stuff necessarily,” Moore said. “We wanted it to be really inviting, so that people would be drawn to it.”
The Barter Boat allows people to choose a vintage postcard as their item and, in return, will send it off to whoever it is addressed to. Earlier in the day, a man dropped off a set of nesting dolls he found in his attic. Many of the objects traded for and their stories stick with the artists.“There was a woman in Scottsdale, Arizona, who brought us a box of ephemera she had collected over her lifetime,” Desireé Moore said. “If it has a connection to you, or to your lived experience, that is what we love the most.” Desireé Moore (left) and Anna Elliott (right) pose for a portrait outside the Barter Boat. So far, the Barter Boat has traveled to 11 states across the country. “We have been thinking beyond the interactions we have with people, and asking what else the Barter Boat can offer,” Moore said. “We are collecting oral histories from people. We are really motivated to look into archiving these stories and creating a contemporary history of people’s lives.”
Edited by Michael Baniewicz | mbaniewicz@themaneater.com
Copy Edited by Briana Iordan | biordan@themaneater.com
Edited by Scout Hudson | shudson@themaneater.com
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The Maneater has the right to remove comments that do not comply with policies surrounding hate speech.